NOTED: VISUAL ARTS

With his contribution to the Nasher XChange program,
artist Charles Long reinvents the classic act of throwing
coins in a fountain. In NorthPark Center’s SouthCourt,
Long’s electronic sculpture The Fountainhead projects images of dollar bills moving swiftly down its surface like
flowing water. For a donation, visitors can flick a virtual
coin into the fountain from any of the three kiosks that surround the sculpture. “This fountain is drenched in digital
representations of money, as it generates wealth electronically,” Long says of Fountainhead. “The reality of it, though,
is that the funds the public donate through their interaction
are transferred to people that provide real public services.”
These credit card swipes directly benefit Dallas CASA, the
North Texas Food Bank, and Bookmarks, a branch of the
Dallas Public Library.

Long drew inspiration from Ayn Rand’s book title The
Fountainhead. Long’s piece confronts the realities and abstractions of money, addressing the separation people feel
from their money in a digitized world. His art also draws
attention to people and organizations in need of financial
assistance. At the Nasher XChange announcement of the
work’s location, NorthPark Mall donated $10,000 to each
of the charities represented by the fountain.

The Nasher XChange program presents 10 public art
displays throughout the city of Dallas, in celebration of the
sculpture center’s 10th anniversary. Credit: Charles Long’s
Nasher XChange commission Fountainhead (detail), on view
at NorthPark. Photo by Allison V. Smith for the Nasher
Sculpture Center P
OF NOTE:
NOVEL INSPIRATION